Game of Love (The Remingtons, Book One: Love in Bloom Series)

Chapter Twenty-Two, Game of Love

Chapter Twenty-Two

ELLIE SPENT THE next few mornings at Maple Elementary getting to know her coworkers and preparing for her first day with the students. Dex worked long hours in preparation for his release, and they came together in the evenings as if they'd been living together forever. They worked into the night, putting their thoughts for the educational software and platform to a coordinated proposal of technical and educational specifications.

Late Saturday morning, Ellie sat beside the glass balcony doors, the heat of the sun warming her legs. She rubbed her hand across the warm area on her thigh. She heard Dex talking on Skype while playing a game on his computer in the other room. His laugh sent a shiver down her back. When she looked at him, she swore she could feel blood pumping life into her heart. She loved knowing he was right in the other room and realized, as she sat listening to him laugh and then curse at his game, that she'd begun to feel things again—emotions she'd hidden from forever, and she wondered how she had gotten along without him for so long.

A knock at the door drew her attention. Before Ellie reached the foyer, Regina and Mitch walked in with four cups of coffee and a bakery bag.

"Hey, Ellie." Mitch handed her a cup of coffee. He flinched and shot a look at Regina. "Oh, Reg, we shouldn't just walk in anymore. Sorry, Ellie. We're not used to the big guy having company."

"She's not company. She lives here," Regina corrected him with a stern voice.

Ellie froze. Regina had been so nice the other morning that her comment took her by surprise.

Regina elbowed her. "Relax. It's the only way to clarify to him that you two are an item." She pointed to her head. "Thick."

Ellie let out a breath.

"I'm not thick up there. It's down below you have to worry about." Mitch winked.

Regina rolled her eyes. She handed Ellie a Danish. "Is he in the office?"

"Yeah. Come on back."

They joined Dex in the office, where he was no longer on Skype but sat before three glowing monitors. He was playing World of Thieves II on one and watching a podcast on another. The third was set to a game-review site. He didn't turn around when they came in.

"I'm leveling up. Give me a sec," Dex said.

Leveling up. How many years had she heard him say that when they were younger? Ellie had spent hours sitting beside Dex while he played video and PC games. Had she paid attention, she could have memorized them, but games had never held her interest. It was the intensity with which Dex played that intrigued her. He didn't just play the games; he seemed to live them. She used to love the way his muscles tensed and his eyes lit up when he played. And listening to his voice as he'd narrate while he played, explaining the storyline, or his hooting and hollering when he did something amazing in the game, had always soothed her, made her feel like she was part of his world.

Earlier that morning, when they'd made love, Dex had told her that he wanted a million lives with her. As corny as it was, it had made her heart soar, because in Dex's gamer mind, things didn't get much better than that. A little thrill chased the memory up the back of her neck.

Mitch took off his sweatshirt and tossed it on a chair. "Ellie, you don't mind that he plays games?"

She shrugged. "He's played ever since we were kids. Why would I mind?"

Regina poked Mitch in the back. "See, not all women mind."

Mitch plopped into a chair in front of another computer. "Right. Well, I haven't met the ones who don't. They don't mind for a day or two, but then they're all, You never pay attention to me."